MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews accused the president of “playing politics,” “running for office,” and “playing the ethnic groups,” and argued that this has prevented him from passing a major legislative accomplishment like immigration reform on Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC.
Matthews did blame the impasse on immigration on the fact that, “Republicans want to the anti-immigrant vote, and Democrats want the pro-immigrant vote, and the immigrant vote.”
He declared that the president could strike a grand bargain, but he hasn’t, saying “immigration reform, as I just said, is doable. A big fiscal deal…[on] entitlements, deals with chained CPI, puts more money into infrastructure, cuts the corporate rates by plugging the loopholes, there’s a grand deal there. And why wouldn’t he push for it? And if Boehner gets in his way. Fine, just keep pushing keep pushing and pushing and the American people know where you stand. He can do it, but he isn’t, as somebody said, Leon [Panetta] just said. And I don’t like the way he came out against the administration, he should be a loyalist, but I’m not part of that team, I can say anything I want, and call it as I see it, and the fact is this president has the opportunity to put it together, but he has to stop playing politics, stop running for office, stop playing the ethnic groups, and say, ‘look, I’ve only got two years left, I’m going to get something done.’”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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